Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129) - Argentina (Ratification: 1985)

The Committee refers to its comments under the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), in so far as they are concerned with the application of the present Convention.

The Committee notes the Government’s report, received by the Office on 30 October 2011 and the successive observations from the Confederation of Workers of Argentina (CTA), dated 31 August 2012 and 7 September 2012, and the observations from the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), dated 10 September 2012.

The CTA declares that the lack of adequate inspection services has a direct impact on the quality of employment and the effective enjoyment of labour rights and that evidence of the laxity of inspection policies is visible in the high accident rates in the sector. According to the aforementioned confederation, the rural sector has a high rate of non-declared or “black” employment, and although it varies from one area to another, it reached a figure of 80 per cent in 2012, according to information from the Ministry of Labour itself. The CTA claims that this situation reflects the Government’s lack of interest in taking action against non-declared employment and shows that the shortcomings in the inspection services are deliberately created. The confederation adds that employers in the sector do not notify occupational accidents and send most workers who have suffered accidents to a welfare organization belonging to the branch trade union to prevent these accidents being included in official statistics and thus avoid any inspection by the authorities and the risk insurers. The CTA denounces with concern the slavery-like conditions of work experienced by taraferos (workers engaged in artisanal harvesting of yerba maté) in the Province of Misiones, whose employment situation is extremely precarious and includes non-registered work, deplorable working conditions and safety and health conditions, failure to pay the remuneration prescribed by law, payment in the form of vouchers which workers must use in an agricultural cooperative at an exchange rate considerably lower than their face value. This situation has given rise to several days of protest between 2010 and 2012, including road closures and hunger strikes. After denouncing the slave labour camps detected at an undertaking in Caraguatay and on maté plantations in Guatambú, the Union of Maté Harvesters and Temporary and Unemployed Workers in the Province of Misiones has repeatedly requested the presence of the Ministry of Labour with a view to putting an end to the irregularities that exist in the sector, but no inspections have been carried out. The Committee requests the Government to send information or comments in response to the observations from the CTA and CGT.

Legislation. The Committee notes the adoption of Act No. 26.727 of 21 December 2011 establishing regulations for employment in agriculture. It notes that, under section 99 of the Act, the authority responsible for enforcement is the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that, in relation to the Act, regulations regarding labour inspection in the sector are currently in the process of being adopted. The Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any developments in the adoption of implementing regulations relating to the abovementioned Act and to send a copy of any legislative text adopted in this regard. The Committee also requests the Government to send information with its next report, supported by statistics, on the impact of the application of the new Act on the objective of the Convention.

Furthermore, observing that the Government has not replied to its previous comments, the Committee is bound to repeat its previous observation, which read as follows:

The Committee notes the Government’s report received at the Office on 23 November 2010. It also notes the comments made by the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) in a communication dated 29 October 2010.

The Committee observes that the CGT, in the comments made in relation to the application of various Conventions ratified by Argentina, includes a copy of a communication from the Argentine Union of Rural Workers and Dockworkers (UATRE) addressed to the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (MTEYSS) (Ministry of Labour), which contains observations with regard to the Government’s compliance with the present Convention.

As regards the issues related to the present Convention, the Committee refers the Government to its observation concerning the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), and raises the following points specifically relating to labour inspection in agriculture.

Lack of information on the functioning of the labour inspection services in agriculture. The UATRE states that it asked the Ministry of Labour to improve rural inspection activities by allocating adequate human resources, but no progress has been observed in this area at national level. The trade union also states that the establishment of the National Register of Rural Workers and Employers (RENATRE), aimed at monitoring the payment of employers’ contributions to the integrated unemployment benefit system, has resulted in the registration of 800,000 workers.

The Committee notes that the Government does not supply the detailed information requested of it in a previous observation concerning the manner in which all provisions of the Convention are given effect in practice. The Committee hopes that the Government will send information in its next report on: (a) the number of labour inspectors exercising their functions in agriculture (disaggregated by provincial authority, if possible) (Article 14 of the Convention); (b) the material means (offices, transport facilities) at the disposal of each provincial authority (Article 15) to ensure that labour inspectors can perform their duties, in accordance with Article 6(1)(a) and (b); (c) the specific training given to labour inspectors to ensure the effective discharge of their functions related to prevention and control as provided for in Article 9(3) (including frequency, number of participants, subjects covered and duration, and preferably with a breakdown of the training activities organized for inspectors in the various regional offices); and (d) the manner in which collaboration is ensured between technical experts and the labour inspection services, especially in the provincial offices, in accordance with Article 11.

Articles 6(1)(a) and 24. Enforcement function of the labour inspectorate; adequate and effectively enforced penalties. The Committee observes that, according to information published on the website of the MTEYSS (http://www.trabajo.gov.ar) concerning labour inspection activities in 2010 and 2011, it appears that inspections have been restricted, at least during the aforementioned years, to checking the labour register. The Committee also notes, from the documentation attached to the report on Convention No. 81, the various agreements signed between the MTEYSS and the trade unions for combating undeclared work and ensuring effective inspection of conditions of work and child labour, in the context of the “Integrated employment promotion plan: more and better work” and the “National plan for the regularization of work” (PNRT). The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the enforcement activities of the labour inspection in agriculture, including with regard to child labour, and to send statistics relating to violations of the labour legislation found, stating the legal provisions concerned and the penalties imposed, and copies of court decisions relating to the latter.

Articles 17 and 19. Preventive control and notification of occupational accidents and cases of occupational disease. In reply to the Committee’s previous comments in this respect, the Government indicates that the provincial authorities conduct on-the-spot routine inspections or inspections resulting from complaints using qualified staff when occupational accidents or diseases have been brought to their attention. The Committee observes that, according to statistics placed on the website of the Supervisory Authority for Occupational Risks (SRT), there was a substantial increase between 2008 and 2009 in accidents in the workplace in provinces such as Tucumán, a major global producer of lemons, and Jujuy, which, according to the same data, accounts for 65 per cent of the workforce in agriculture.

The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that labour inspectors are associated with the preventive control of new plant, new materials or substances and new methods of handling or processing products which appear likely to constitute a threat to health or safety (Article 17) and to send a copy of any relevant legal text. It also requests the Government to indicate the manner in which effect is given to Article 19 of the Convention, concerning the notification to the labour inspectorate of occupational accidents and cases of occupational disease (paragraph 1), or the association of the labour inspection services in agriculture with any inquiry into the causes of the most serious accidents or diseases that have affected a number of workers or had fatal consequences (paragraph 2).

Articles 26 and 27. Obligation to publish and send an annual report. The Government indicates that the statistics relating to occupational accidents and diseases compiled by the SRT can be consulted on http://www.srt.gov.ar/data/fdata.htm. The Committee observes that the statistics contained in the different reports that appear on the SRT website do not appear to distinguish between occupational accidents and cases of occupational disease.

The Committee refers the Government to its comments under Articles 20 and 21 of Convention No. 81 and requests the Government to keep the ILO informed of progress made in ensuring that the central labour inspection authority publishes and sends to the ILO, in accordance with Article 26 of the Convention, an annual report on the work of the labour inspection services in agriculture, either as a separate report or as part of its general annual report, containing the information required in Article 27(a)–(g). The Committee also reminds the Government that it may avail itself of the technical assistance of the Office in this regard.